How to take a French Canal Boat Holiday

There is something that is so appealing about the idea of a holiday on one of those beautiful French canal boats.  The idea of sitting on the top deck sipping a glass of wine in the sunshine while experiencing the cool breeze, and eating some lovely French cheese and a baguette seems irresistible.  But a French canal cruise is not cheap.  A more affordable way to have this experience is doing a canal boat hire and cruising on your own.  It can sound intimidating to drive a houseboat, but really it is a wonderful option.

Canal Boat Rental and what to look for?

Features to look for in a houseboat hire:

• Enough rooms for sleeping.  Houseboat quarters can be very cramped and there is not typically any closets for storage.  If you are planning for someone to sleep in your living quarters, it might be uncomfortable.
• Bow and stern thrusters make life so much easier when navigating locks or docking.  This is especially so for the novices to canal boat cruises.
• Indoor and outdoor seating area for meal times and relaxing.  If the weather is nice, it is lovely to eat outside.
• Indoor and outdoor driving spots.  It is so nice to drive from outside and view the countryside.  However, if it is rainy or cold, the option of driving from inside is very nice to have.
• Having a retractable shade on the upper deck or outdoor area is important for those outside meals.
• Air conditioning or fans in the boat bedrooms.  Most of the time weather in France is quite pleasant and air conditioning isn’t needed.  However, if you do get a very hot spell, A/C can be a godsend.  Look at the time of year that you are visiting and decide if you need A/C.
• Size of water tank: The size of your water tank can determine how often you need to stop to refill your water or how long of a shower you can take on board.

If you want to see a typical river boat rental, watch the video tour below.

Where to rent your French canal barge?

Houseboat rentals are pretty common in France.  There are several companies that are pretty comparable.

List of places to contact about your barge hire:

LeBoat France
Locaboat
Nicols

All of these places are popular options to rent from.  There are many smaller outlets that rent as well, but we recommend using a reliable larger company like one of these.

Most rental places offer a variety of extras like bikes and bbq grills among other things for your boating holiday.  We highly recommend the bikes, as you can get around the little villages, which aren’t always right next to the canal. The BBQ is a nice touch if you wish to cook outdoors in nice weather. However, if you plan to take advantage of all the little village restaurants in your trip, give the BBQ a miss.

Driving your French Canal Boat

Renting a self-drive houseboat seems very intimidating and scary for someone who doesn’t have boating experience.  However, barging in France is easier than you think!  You don’t need to have any kind of boating license to drive your boat down the French canals.  When you pick up your boat, they will teach you everything you need to know.  You will typically spend 1-2 hours getting acquainted with you boat including a mini lesson.  Don’t worry too much though, you can only cruise the canals at a max of 8km/hour so you can’t do too much damage at that speed.  A canal trip in France can be quite peaceful.

Each mini lesson is different, but they will cover:
How to drive your French canal boat rental
How to fill the water for your barge rental and how to hook up to shore water.
How to Navigate a lock going up and down
When and how to enter a lock
How to check your electrical system and hook up to shore power
A short test run drive in the boat
How to tie up the boat.
How to use your thrusters (if your self drive boat has them)
Where to fill up gas
And much more

What is a lock?

Many of the canals in france are not natural.  They are man made.  One of the most famous Canals is the Canal du Midi.  It was built to connect the Atlantic to the Mediterranean.  However, all the terrain between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean isn’t necessarily level.  So the Canal rises to meet the high ground and then fall again.  The canal is over 150 miles long and rises to 620 feet above sea level.  Locks are the way that boats move through the canal.

Locks allow the water to rise and fall in a controlled fashion and move boats through the canal.  Lock keepers are present at many locks.  Sometimes there will even be a small restaurant or store where you can pick up a few things at the lock.

Navigating Locks

When you approach a lock, it will either be opened or closed.  If the lock gate is closed, you may will have to wait until the door open and the boats inside to leave.  Please note that commercial barges and boats have priority at the locks.  If you are waiting for a lock to open and a commercial boat arrives, they get to enter the lock first.

If the gate is open, you are welcome to drive into the lock and tie up to the cleats on the side of the lock.  Our biggest tip is to go very slowly when you do this.  The slower you are moving, the easier ti will be.  The lock keeper may tell you where to tie up as well.  If you are moving down in elevation in the lock, everyone can stay on the boat moving into the lock.  If you are moving up in elevation in the lock, you will have to stop and put someone out ahead of the lock.  This is because when you enter the lock, you will need to throw the ropes up to someone to tie the boat off.  You will not be able to reach the top to tie off if you do not put someone out ahead of the lock.

Once you are in the lock, and other boats and barges are in the lock, the lock keeper will close the gates.  Some locks in France are automated, so you may have to press a button if no lock keeper is present.  Once the gates are closed, water will come rushing in if you are going up, or go rushing out if you are going down.  You will hold the ropes taught between the boat and the cleat on shore.  This prevents the boat from moving around too much in the lock and potentially hitting the walls of the lock or another boat.

Once the lock has finished with the water, the gates will open and you can drive out of the gates.  You will typically leave in the order that you arrived in the lock.  You should plan for each single lock to take around 20 minutes.  Please note that the lock keepers are wonderful and friendly and will give you advice.  Listen to the advice when you can.  However, don’t get too upset if you can’t, we had several lock keepers give us contrictary advice.

Check out this video (time lapse) of a double lock. Apologies for the video quality, a child was manning the camera.

Things to bring on your French canal cruise holidays

Gloves : The water in the canals can be very dirty and the ropes can be rough.  Gloves will help protect you.
Clothes pins : Clothes pins are useful in hanging up sheets to create shade and for when you need to rinse out some clothing here and there.
Shower shoes / Flip flops / thongs : for the showers at the various ports that you can stop at.
Hat
Sunscreen
Sun Glasses
Games or cards to play in the evenings
Camera or GoPro as you will get some amazing footage.

Where to go on your French river boat rental

France and much of Europe is filled with canals. French barge cruises are very popular and with good reason.  The variety of scenery on the different canals is quite varied and each region offers different options and experiences.  While I haven’t been on all the canals in france, it doesn’t mean that I don’t want to try.  The peak season for canal holidays in France is July and August.  We have found that May, June, September and October are wonderful as well.

Barge trips in France

Canal du Midi Boat Hire

A canal du Midi boat rental is one of the most popular options with good reason.  The Canal du Midi is a UNESCO world heritage site.  It stretches from Toulouse to the Mediterranean through beautiful villages and scenery.  Major villages along the way include Toulouse, Castelnaudry, Carcassonne, Trebes, Beziers, and Narbonne.  Carcassone is a market village with a large castle.  The castle is perfect for exploring, but it is a long walk uphill.  If you aren’t up to the walk, there is a train.  There are numerous other small villages and wineries to visit along the Canal Du Midi.  The length of the canal includes foot paths next to the canal, perfect for walking or bike riding as well.

There are some great tours available in Carcassone.  The best tours are the walking tours of the castle.  If you wish to know what you are seeing, you should definitely do one of these tours.  Check prices for these tours here.

Burgundy river cruise

3 canals run through Burgundy, the river Saone, the river Sielle, and the river Doubs.  From these 3 rivers you can visit, St Jean de Losne, Gray, Dijon, Dole, and more.  Burgundy is famous for the wine of the same name including some of the oldest grape vartiels in the world.  They are also famous for classic french food standards like escargot and beef bourgoiunon.  Burgundgy is the perfect place to explore old world France.

What to do on your canal cruise holidays

Enjoying local foods and wines is a great part of the experience of a barge trip in Europe.  France has some of the best food and wine around too.  Small cheese shops, village bakeries, farmers markets, and family run wineries are all part of the fun of exploring.

Visting the small village churches and sites are escpeially interesting as well.

Sometimes, you come close to a bigger city with a major attraction, like the large castle at Carcassonne.  Excellent for learning history, exploring, and getting great views of the surrounding area.

The best thing to do while you are cruising is to take photographs, chat with family and friends, or have a nap if you aren’t driving.

Once thing to take note of is that much of these areas are rural France.  Therefore, they close every day from about 12-3.  The locks also close, but for a shorter time.  This is a great time to have a relaxing lunch along the canal.  Also, remember that most French bakeries are closed on Sunday afternoon and all day on Monday.  So be sure to buy what you need before they close.

Things to do with kids on a river boat cruise in france

Riding bikes is always great fun.  If the kids get tired of being on the boat, they can ride on the path next to the river as well.

Visiting bakeries is a hit with my kids.  From croissaints to baguettes to pastries, they have never met a bread that they didn’t like.  And they loved trying all the different variations throughout France.

Kids can be a great help at the locks.  They love jumping on and off the boat to tie the ropes.  They often have more enegry than the adults do anyway.  Be sure to help them the first coupe times until they get the hang of exactly what to do and how to do it.  The lock keepers will often help kids if they don’t know what to do.  Our son even helped a couple man their ropes through several locks.

We would love to hear about our experiences on a houseboat in France or anywhere in Europe!